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5-minute Hot Fudge Sauce has just three ingredients and is perfect to use all summer long! This simple recipe tastes like melted fudge and you can reheat leftovers to thin!
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Easy Hot Fudge Recipe
If there is one thing I want all summer long it’s ice cream!! I crave it in summer, probably because it’s so hot here in Sacramento. (Well…let’s be honest. I crave ice cream all the time because it’s so darn good!)
Recently Jordan had some friends over and they wanted ice cream sundaes. We had the ice cream covered but, to my dismay, we were out of chocolate sauce. Now, as a food blogger, I took this as a huge fail: I always have all the sauces on hand. I have chocolate sauce when I make pie and need a drizzle and caramel sauce for when I’m making something gooey. So how in the WORLD was I out of ALL OF THEM at once?! #momfail #bloggerfail
So I did what a good blogger does in these situations: I made my own hot fudge sauce. And, dare I say, it’s BETTER than the kind you buy?
5-minute hot fudge sauce has just 3 ingredients and is perfect for all your ice cream sundaes!
What’s the difference between hot fudge and chocolate sauce?
It’s so easy to buy hot fudge and chocolate sauce that making it homemade has to be easy or why bother, right? Well, I got you covered because this hot fudge recipe is the BEST.
Honestly, I’ve always wondered this! The main difference is the texture. Hot fudge is thicker and more rich while chocolate sauce is thinner and more pourable. Chocolate sauce stays sauce in the refrigerator, while hot fudge gets cold and thick…like fudge.
And, let me tell you, my hot fudge sauce recipe tastes like melted fudge! It’s PERFECT to put on top of your favorite O Organics ice cream!
3 Ingredients Needed
Some recipes are for hot fudge with cocoa powder, but this recipe uses sweetened condensed milk! There are only three total ingredients:
- Chocolate Chips – use your favorite flavor, but use a good brand! We love Trader Joe’s, Guittard, and Guirradelli.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Butter – unsalted or salted. The butter might seem like an odd ingredient, but it’s necessary. Without it the hot fudge will seize and not act properly, so don’t skip it.
How to make hot fudge
- Add sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips to a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate chips are melted.
- Remove from heat and stir in butter. Stir until butter is melted.
- Place hot fudge in a jar. Use while hot.
Favorite Recipes using liquid fudge:
- Drizzle it on peanut butter dip
- Make Hula Pie with it
- Pour it over Peanut Butter Ice Cream Brownies
5-minute Hot Fudge Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 (14 ounce) can (396g) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup (170g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips to a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate chips are melted.
- Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Stir until butter is melted.
- Place hot fudge in a jar. Use while hot.
- Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. To reheat: place jar in microwave and heat in 30 second increments, stirring between each, until melted and smooth.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- This is a very thick sauce – the hotter it is the thinner, but it’s hot fudge, not chocolate sauce.
- You can use salted or unsalted butter.
- Leftovers – store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will thicken and harden as it cools so heat to thin.
Recipe Nutrition
**Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!**
Last Updated on April 29, 2023
This recipe is really good. Be very careful not to overheat when reheating. Easy and delicious.
We absolutely loved this hot fudge sauce the night we made it.
It is delicious!
We are struggling with reheating it. Twice we have attempted to reheat it and as soon as it is on the ice cream it turns hard. Help please!
How much are you reheating it? Possibly if it becomes liquid again completely it won’t harden?
Hi Dorothy, I came across your site because I was looking for a Hot Fudge recipe. I am from Brazil and I am not sure if you have ever heard of brigadeiro. It is one of the most famous Brazilian dessert and the recipe is the as yours, but the difference is you add the butter with the other ingredients and you don’t remove from heat after chocolate is melted. You continue stirring until it thickens a little (about five to ten minutes) and you let sit until it cools down. After that, you just make spoon sized balls by rolling by hand, roll the chocolate balls on granulated chocolate and refrigerate for a couple of hous and voila. Thank you for sharing your recipe. 🙂
I made the yummy fudge sauce for a birthday Saturday night. Nobody wanted chocolate sauce till I said I made it. They went crazy after tasting it. Now I have to make it for all birthday parties. Just wanted you to know what you started. I can’t thank you enough.
I’ve made a number of your recipes and all were winners. Keep up the good work.
Oh my. I made this but added about 1/2 tsp of pure vanilla. This was so easy, and a great way to use up my overload of chocolate chips that I tend to hoard. I love it, thanks!
That picture of the fudge sauce in the jar is absolutely gorgeous!. I can almost taste it.
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